Halle Berry: Cloud Atlas was ambitious

A sci-fi mystery drama based on the 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas is an exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. Starring as part of an ensemble cast are actors Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon & Jim Broadbent.

The Oscar-winning actress was initially dubious about working with co-directors Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski in the drama adapted from David Mitchell's novel, which brings together several narratives to explore the interconnectedness of the human race.

She said: ''It was very ambitious. Something I had never read before. It was a challenge to do something unique that would test everybody in new ways. I thought, 'Wow, if they can pull this off and do it all independently, and get to really have their vision...' ''

Reminiscing about first meeting the directors, Halle added: ''I had a poster of '2001: A Space Odyssey' on the wall when I met with them. They said, 'I wanna make that'. I said, 'Are you out of your f**king mind?!... I'm in!' ''

The film - which also stars Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent and Susan Sarandon - uses heavy prosthetics to tell the story of several inter-connected characters throughout time, but although the shoot was tough, Halle's co-star Tom Hanks insisted the mood on set was far from glum.

Tom enthused: ''From the get-go we knew it was going to be very big. That the engineering was going to be tough. That the logistics were going to be very hard. They seemed so happy to see us every morning. It wasn't like, here comes Mr. Wacky-head, who's going to shout out his jokes. It was, 'You're here! We get to have more fun!' ''